Rolling the Dice on Chicago Theatre

The Beginning: 1/14 – 1/18 (Preview and Chart)

It takes two weeks after the start of a new year for the theatrical community to get its feet under itself. We’re back to a full chart this week. Exciting shows are on there. I will be out of town this weekend seeing my daughter’s dance show in Minnesota, so Maggie is our only reviewer. The dice were rolled, and she will be seeing the newest offering from City Lit Theater. It’s a new adaptation of a Mark Twain novel. I’m really bummed that I don’t get to see this show. First off, the adaptation is by Terry McCabe, and I really enjoy his stuff. Secondly, I am on a mission to read all of Mark Twain’s works. I’ve not made it to “The Gilded Age” yet. I’m about to delve into “Pudd’nhead Wilson”. My wife and I went camping near Hannibal, Missouri a couple years ago, and since then I’ve started plowing through Samuel Clemens’ work. I won’t be getting to “The Gilded Age” for a while. This is a book which he wrote as one half of a co-authoring team. That in and of itself has me intrigued. According to the folks over at City Lit, this script adapts the Twain segments of the book, and leaves the rest alone. They have put together a couple of videos about the show. Here’s one that I find informative and interesting. Check it out.

As you may know, one of my top five plays of 2015 was a production of “[title of show]”. Open Door Rep has now tackled the show. It’s a musical that I want to see again. The original cast soundtrack has become part of my traveling music. I love the play. I don’t know anything about the Open Door production itself. I’m sort of wondering if the script and score stand up to different productions. I sort of assume that any production of the show starts out as at least good, and then the right company can elevate it to great or beyond. Were I in town this weekend, this is a show I’d want to catch.

There are a lot of other highly anticipated shows on the chart this week. If you haven’t seen a play in a theatre yet this year, this is probably the week to get yourself to a stage and take something in.

No randomness this week. I’m frantically packing to head Up North. But there are cool things on the horizon, and we’ll be chatting about them very soon. See you next week!

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Where to go for Theatre Listings

When putting together our charts, we use Theatre In Chicago for all of our theatre listings.
Stop by Theatre In Chicago to see what other folks are saying about shows, in their convenient "Review Round-Up"!